Information and communication technologies (ICT) are becoming increasingly important for the provision of public services. Therefore, public-private partnerships (PPP) have become a valuable alternative for implementing, maintaining, and modernizing public ICT infrastructures. However, information technology (IT) partnerships between public and private parties are difficult endeavours due to different institutional backgrounds. We present the results of an exploratory, interpretive case study that analyzes one of the few successfully established IT-PPPs in Germany, and explain how the different parties interacted to succeed in establishing a working partnership. In particular, using institutional logics as meta-theoretical lens, we present a model that emerged from the data and explains the differences of public and private institutional logics influencing the establishment of IT partnerships. Furthermore, we analyzed which management procedures are necessary for enhancing the understanding between public and private parties to build a joint partnership and enable IT-PPP success.

Inter-organizational cooperations between public and private partners, called public private partnerships (PPP), are increasingly gaining more importance concerning renewal, standardization, and optimization of the information technology (IT) infrastructure of public sector organizations. Reasons for this trend include the search for partners with the necessary technological and innovative know-how for sourcing of IT and the identification of cost-saving potentials. Unfortunately, IT-PPP-cooperations are particularly susceptible to failure due to the clash of different cultures. Divergent understandings and expectations, and pressure from the relevant stakeholders hinder a working partnership. Therefore in this exploratory, qualitative single-case study from the German TollCollect IT megaproject, we draw on findings from boundary spanning literature to explain how establishing preconditions for boundary spanning and actively bridging the gap between the partners, moderated by external stakeholder support, affects the formation of mutual trust and hence the success of an IT-PPP-megaproject.

Prior research in the context of public private partnerships has mainly focused on organizational and risk management aspects. Because there is a growing number of IT megaprojects in the context of public private partnerships, recent work concentrates on the explanation of the relationship between public and private partners and the success factors for these relations. However, we still have a lack of understanding on the causes and consequences for IT megaproject failure in the context of public private partnerships. In this exploratory, qualitative single-case study from the German TollCollect IT megaproject we draw on findings from the psychological contract theory to explain psychological contract violation as a threat to IT megaproject success. Our research model suggests that the management of common understanding and expectations, moderated by political and public pressure of a public-private environment, affects the stability of the psychological contract and therefore the success of an IT megaproject in the context of public private partnerships.